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The Mat-Su Borough Assembly’s decision to contribute an additional $905,000 to the construction of the new Talkeetna Public Library was a major victory for proponents of the project. I spoke to Talkeetna librarian Ann Yadon about the significance of the borough budget decision beyond the actual amount contributed.

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The foundation and borough funding will be combined with $2.8 million from the State of Alaska and $50,000 in locally gathered grants, donations, and pledges. Ann Yadon describes some of the features of the new building, which will serve as a community center as well as a library.

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In addition to the multi-purpose room, the much larger library will have enhanced capacity for books as well as what Ann Yadon describes as, “comfortable and cozy” areas for reading.

While the funding is a major milestone for the new library project, there are still many steps to complete before the new facility can open it’s doors.

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The next major step in the process is for the architect to revise plans for the library based on comments made by the community when the plans were on display. Area residents submitted a total of 144 comments on the current design. The revised plans are due to be delivered on July 9th, at which point public comments will be gathered again.